Online Charging Systems (OCS) allow for two modes of charging: offline charging and online charging. Offline charging entails post processing after session ends. Offline charging is quick, very efficient, and allows for bulk charging operations. However, Offline Charging does not provide all charging functionality of the OCS. Online charging entails processing in session in an online manner. Online charging is less efficient, requires that the online charging system maintain a session for the length of the user session, and is not amendable to bulk charging transactions. Online Charging is usually preferable from a functionality and user experience aspect. However, Online Charging is also more demanding with respect to network resources and thus, a network may have less capacity to support Online Charging.
Although telecommunications network operators have invested significantly in enhancing their online charging capabilities and capacity, the proliferation of smart devices that allow multiple data sessions and the growth in usage of such devices place a significant burden on online charging systems.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a system and method which overcomes the limitations of the present modes of operating an OCS and provide substantial charging functionality with unnecessary network burden.